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HONDA RACING INFORMATION
ZitatAlles anzeigen2013 FIM SUPERBIKE / SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 13, MAGNY COURS, FRANCE SUNDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2013 PREVIEW
HASLAM READY ONCE MORE AS CHAMPIONSHIP RETURNS TO EUROPE
The FIM Superbike World Championship has moved at pace from North America last weekend to Europe this coming weekend, with Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) out to score big points at the Magny Cours circuit in France on Sunday October 6.
Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) is still out of action because of his broken femur and that means that the ever-improving Michel Fabrizio will ride for the team once more this weekend.
Haslam is confident he will be ready to race at a high level close to the front of the field again after experiencing some issues in the USA, as he goes for his first podium in a year that has been disturbed by injury from the outset. Leon knows Magny Cours well and feels he and his team can find a good set-up at this round to let him qualify well in Superpole, which is always a crucial part of putting together a strong raceday. He has been on the podium in France twice recently, going second in race one in the
2010 season and third in race one in 2011.Fabrizio has now ridden in two rounds for the Pata Honda team, in Turkey and the USA, and has learned much about his machine after competing for most of the season on another make of motorcycle. He is heading to France aiming to score well in each race at the penultimate round of the year.
In the current championship rankings Fabrizio is seventh, Rea eighth and Haslam 14th. The Pata Honda World Superbike Team has recently announced that both Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam will remain with the team for another season of SBK racing in 2014.
Magny Cours is traditionally a well-attended stop-off for the Superbike World Championship series and along the circuit’s 4.411km lap 20 corners, nine right-handers and 11 lefts present the riders with challenges of all kinds. From the heavy braking into the Adelaide Hairpin to the fast first left of the Grand Courbe, variety was clearly the key word in its original design. It also borrows from many existing circuits in the shape of its corners, including not only the previously mentioned Adelaide but also the Estoril, Imola and Nürburgring sections.
After the somewhat experimental American round of SBK featuring one race on Saturday and one on Sunday, the French weekend reverts to the traditional format of two races on Sunday, one at noon local time and one at 15.30.
The final round of what has been an intense season so far will take place at Jerez in Spain on October 20.
MORE PODIUMS THE AIM FOR VAN DER MARK AND ZANETTI
Pata Honda’s two-pronged attack in the 2013 FIM Supersport World Championship has seen both Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport
Team) and Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) score podium finishes and more of the same kind of results is the aim as the championship reaches the penultimate round. The WSS class was not in the USA last weekend and therefore will be held over 13 rounds in all, not the 14 that the Superbike Word Championship will run to.For van der Mark in particular Magny-Cours holds great memories as this is the venue he won the Superstock 600 European Championship at on a Honda CBR600RR last year, resisting great pressure from his only remaining championship rival all through the race. His maturity and speed on that day were rewarded with a ride on the official Honda entry in the WSS class in 2013, and van Der Mark has paid back the faith shown in his precocious talent with three podiums. Michael is currently fourth in the championship, 14 points behind the third place rider with two rounds left.
Lorenzo is also a rider new to WSS racing in 2013 but somewhat unusually he arrived from the Superbike class. He has both endured and enjoyed his first WSS season at times and sits fifth in the championship with one podium finish so far.
He has been close to more top three results, having been fourth on four occasions, including at the two most recent championship rounds.Another 2013 season rookie, Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda), has shown that the prowess of the CBR600RR is also still strong in the Supersport World Championship; with eight top tens to his credit including two top six finishes. A recent British Supersport competitor, the Irish rider is heading to another circuit he has no prior knowledge of.
Roberto Tamburini (Team Lorini Honda) has posted some strong recent results to go 18th in the championship as the season counts down to a finish, while his fellow Italian countryman and team-mate Raffaele De Rosa (Team Lorini Honda) is 19th overall. Luca Marconi (PTR Honda) has suffered injury in 2013 but is back looking for more top ten finishes to move on from his current ranking of 22nd. Stand-in rider in the PRORACE Honda team, Ronan Quarmby, is back again instead of the injured Gabor Talmacsi.
Former GP rider Danny Webb (PTR Honda) competes in WSS this weekend for a third time, riding alongside Marconi, while the Team Honda PTR side of the overall PTR effort features two new riders this round, recent AMA Champion Alexander Cory and British rider Lee Johnston.
Regular Honda riders Eduard Blokhin (Rivamoto Honda), Imre Toth (Racing Team Toth Honda), Alex Schacht (Racing Team Toth Honda), Balazs Nemeth (Complus SMS Racing Honda) and Nacho Calero Perez (Honda PTR) – plus new face Brodie Waters (AARK Racing Honda) and wild card man Yves Polzer (Team MRC Austria) are all in action again, chasing points scores.
After the Magny-Cours weekend the 13th and final round of the WSS championship will take place at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, on Sunday October 6.
HONDA RIDER COMMENTS:
Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) “Magny Cours is a track I like riding on. I have had a bit of bad luck there in the past but some good results as well. Another race for us and in my opinion now it is a case of getting the best possible results in the last two rounds and doing as much development as we can and go from there.
I signed for 2014 recently as well so right now my priority is to get fit again and work out what we need to do next year. We’ve made some really good steps but that’s been combined with some bad luck this year. Hopefully, that’s all out of the way now and we can keep making progress in the last few races and over winter testing.”Michel Fabrizio (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) “The results at Laguna Seca were not great but I was quite happy after the race on Sunday because we made another big change to the front of the bike after warm-up and it worked. I was able to do faster lap times and the bike was much better for me, so I think we have a good direction to follow this weekend. My results at Magny-Cours have not been so good over the years, with only one podium, so we will work as hard as possible to achieve some good results this time.”
Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) "I’m ready for the Magny-Cours race and it is quite strange because it is already a year since winning the Superstock title and that year has gone so fast. I have great memories of riding at Magny-Cours last year. In Turkey we made a very good step forward and got back on the podium again, so I was really happy about that. We need to be on the first two rows after qualifying in France, that is what we saw after Turkey. My race rhythm is always OK but if you are not on the front two rows it will be difficult for the podium. I think we will be able to do that again.”
Lorenzo Zanetti (Pata Honda World Supersport Team) “I am all ready to race again and everything is OK. I have had two weeks to relax and go training so my physical condition is getting better and better every time. We got to France after two good results recently and I only missed out on a podium in Turkey for really nothing. Magny Cours is not my favourite track but it is important to push to 100% and try to take the best possible result. I am fighting for the final championship positions as the season heads to a finish, so I am competing with Michael my team-mate and Fabien Foret for third place in the championship standings.”
Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda)
"I have never been to Magny Cours before and the weather forecast is not meant to be great, particularly on Friday. It should get better as the weekend goes on. I have been training hard for it as usual so I am looking forward to getting on track again. The layout seems strange even when playing it on the X-box, which I have been doing a lot of, to get used to how the circuit is.”Ronan Quarmby (PRORACE Honda)
“I feel positive because I know the French track well and I am excited about this round. The team has done some new things; Turkey was a difficult one for us recently. I think we will do well and the team will come together for this round. I did not race at the start of the year but when I got on the bike for the team a few rounds ago everything came naturally. I feel better this year than I did last year. We have a good base set-up for Magny Cours, I think. I just hope it won’t be too cold on the weekend!”Alexander Cory (Team Honda PTR)
“I'm really excited for the opportunity to join the PTR Honda team, but even more importantly to make my debut on world level. It's truly a dream come true to be able to even ride in Europe, but even more so to represent America in the WSS championship alongside some of the best racers on the planet. After wrapping up my first AMA championship I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate! I have to give a huge thanks to my sponsors for making it possible and thanks to PTR Honda for inviting me to be a part of their team."Lee Johnson (Team Honda PTR)
"It's been a few years since I've ridden a Supersport bike on a closed circuit, so I am looking forward to getting back on one. I do have 600cc experience on the roads recently. These are not circuits I am familiar with but I will do my best. Thank you to my sponsor East Coast Racing and PTR for making this happen, it's going to be good."